Permissive Space and Policing Practices in Mathare and Kaptembwo Informal Settlements

Speaker: Dr Patrick Mutahi, Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies, Kenya

Discussant: Dr Guy Lamb, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Abstract:

In this paper, I analyse how different policing actors project their power and sovereignty in two informal settlements in Kenya: Mathare and Kaptembwo. Using the idea of permissive space, I unpack how power, relationships, and sovereignty issues are negotiated through everyday policing practices and repetitive public performances. I interrogate how the police, Community Policing Committee members, boda boda (motorcycle) riders, men and women, and young people interacted in different spaces of impunity as they exercised sovereignty within and beyond the criminal justice system. I show how they draw on historical claims to power negotiated over time that entitled them with authority over particular issues, such as carrying out street violence on suspected criminals.

As a result, I establish how legitimacy and sovereignty are negotiated, contested, constructed, and reconstructed. The permissive space is necessary for Mathare residents who rely on the fluidity and flexibility it provides to make their lives tenable as they negotiate their relationships with the state and each other.

Bio:

Dr. Mutahi is a researcher and expert in policing, security, and violence. In 2022, he received his PhD titled “Statehood, Sovereignty and Identities: Exploring Policing in Kenya’s Informal Settlements of Mathare and Kaptembwo” from the University of Edinburgh. His thesis contributes new empirical and analytical knowledge on policing in Kenya, offering critical insights into the complex relationships between state actors, non-state actors, and citizens. The paper being presented is derived from the PhD thesis.

Dr. Mutahi has led numerous studies on political stability and violence in Kenya, exploring national and cross-border threats as well as security responses. His publications address topics such as urban violence, policing, and electoral violence.

This webinar is the seventh of a series of bi-monthly webinars entitled Security and Justice Futures which aim to confront the dilemmas, re-imaginings and futures of security and justice from a cross-regional perspective. Drawing from a range of speakers from north and south contexts, the series seeks to engage with both academic and practitioner audiences to encourage a mutual dialogue on the futures of security and justice in diverse contexts.

Photo Credit: UnSplash/Bennett Tobias